SEGREGATION, DESEGREGATION, RE-SEGREGATION:

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT EQUITY IN OUR SCHOOLS

Session 1 - Segregated Schooling in Jim Crow Virginia, 1870-1950
A Brief Timeline of the Jim Crow Era in Virginia

This abbreviated timeline was taken from Dr. Peter Wallenstein's remarks. It is posted here to help readers understand part of Virginia's past.

1870 - Virginia's Constitution provides for public schools. The first public law on schooling separates the races.

1939-40 - Aline Black and Melvin Austin go to court to secure equal pay for Black teachers in Norfolk, Virginia.

1941-1948 - Black parents and students fight for busing, equal facilites, and equal curricula.

1950 - School desegregation begins in Virginia when the first Black student attends the Law School at the University of Virginia.

1953 - The first Black student is admitted to Virginia Tech.

1959 - Some schools desegregated (in Norfolk, Charlottesville, and elsewhere), but Prince Edward county closes its schools rather than comply with court ordered desegregation.

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Posted: September 24, 1999
By The Educational Policy Institute of Virginia Tech
sjanosik@vt.edu